Seemings
by Sofricus Aurora Zakuro
Summary: Artemis and Holly mourn over the body of a family member. Artemis is secretly in league with Opal Koboi, and is responsible for the death. Or is he? Remember, things are never as they seem...


Seemings

By Sofri-chan

**Sofri-chan: **Another AF one-shot. ONE-shot, so don't ask for more. Remember—things are never as they seem, especially not in this story.

**Disclaimer: **Don't own AF.

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SEEMINGS

"He's dead." 

The level, flat voice betrayed no emotion, but Holly Short Fowl wasn't fooled. She knew Artemis Fowl was being torn up inside looking at the dead body of one he cared for so much, but had rarely paid attention to.

"I rarely spoke to him, really. I was always so busy with some job or other, I rarely had time for him. We bore the same name, but were so different." A single, choking sob broke from his throat.

The elf put a tanned hand on the man's shoulder. "Shhhh…." she whispered. "I…I know what you're going through…She killed one of my family members too, a cousin."

Artemis's shoulders tensed upon hearing the pronoun Holly used. "She," he whispered, his voice low and venomous. "She will pay for this…Opal Koboi will pay, this time!"

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"He's dead."

The level, flat voice betrayed no emotion…but that was because there was none to betray. Artemis Fowl felt no remorse at the death of the man who shared his name.

"Good job, _partner_," a female voice replied from beside him. Opal Koboi relaxed on a fur lounge chair, inwardly rejoicing at her skill. "And think…if I'd never convinced you to be a traitor, none of this would have _ever _happened."

The Irish genius laughed, but the laugh was hollow-sounding. His ice-blue eyes glimmered with twisted mirth. "Opal, I knew I wanted to turn traitor nearly a year ago. He disgusted me, really. So many _morals, _so many _values_…Disgusting! And that stupid elf…_Holly_. Just as disgusting. She'll be next!"

"Parents are like that, Artemis," the pixie replied flatly. "I should know." A devious smile lit up her tiny face as she remembered her father, whose business she had bankrupted while still a teenager.

"I know, Opal. Don't I ever know."

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"I can't believe she escaped, really," Holly told Artemis. But the genius man was unable to talk about that yet.

"There was that one year…the capture…it was so _horrible, _Holly, I thought I'd never see him again! Then…Then…" his voice trailed off.

"There, there," the elf whispered, stroking the gray-clad arm. "I know your pain…maybe not all, but at least some."

Grief-filled blue eyes met her hazel ones. "Of course you did, Holly. You loved him as much as I did…maybe more."

The man paused, then continued. "With me, there were fights, arguments, disagreements. With you, he was happy."

Then Holly cried. Artemis Fowl I took his daughter-in-law's hand and allowed her to weep on his shoulder, wishing that the shoulder could hide the sight of his son—her husband's—dead body from her eyes forever.

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"I bet he's weeping now. I bet they're _both _weeping, him and the elf. I can just see them…see them blubbering their eyes out, thinking I'm upstairs in my room…absolutely _distraught _of course, while in reality I'll never set foot in that stupid, _moral_-filled mansion again," Artemis Fowl III, son of Artemis II and Holly, declared.

Opal grinned. Her plan to get his father over to her "dark side" had failed when he'd married that elf and gone soft…but the son, he was amazing. Exactly what she needed—calculating, twisted mind, hatred for morals, genius…rather like herself.

"You know what, Artemis?" the pixie asked. He raised his head in question. "You don't remind me of your father. At all." The duo instantly broke into laughter at the 'joke.'

"Boy, am I glad of that." Artemis III replied, giving his evil partner a diabolical grin. "Now, when can we get rid of Moth…I mean Holly? Cause I've got the most brilliant idea…"

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End file.
